Things I’m Doing: Sleeping

Hello, R.E.M. sleep. It’s been a while. Science tells us sleep is important. I don’t argue with science. But what if, despite the best science available, “sleep” doesn’t happen?

I won’t say I’ve been an insomniac for most of the past 6 months, but my routine has been (a) watch TV until my brain can stop thinking about the day that I just finished and the day ahead of me, (b) wake up on the couch in a very tired state (c) drag myself to my bed and hope I can remain in this dream-like state until I hit my pillow and fall immediately asleep and finally (d) pray I don’t wake up in a panic at 4 a.m.

The problem is, as I guess is the case with most people struggling to sleep, is you add the worry of, “I need to sleep or tomorrow will be worse than today,” and suddenly you have another failure to obsess about. You start thinking about how much you used to enjoy bedtime and how you weren’t nervous or scared to wake up the next day.

Feelings of doubt, fear, regret, failure, anger, and sadness don’t help with sleep.

Last night? I slept. Today? I feel amazing. I have a feeling of optimism that’s been missing for many days and night.

All because of sleep. And what did I do with this new found energy and optimism. I went shopping.

Later, I might go for a walk. I might watch some TV and get some more writing done. Truly, with a good nights sleep, I can do anything.

Have you ever had trouble sleeping? From grief? Anger? Sadness? Stress? What did you do? How did you fix it and make sure you got sleep?